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Coding Your Future: A Guidebook for Students

21 Opportunities for PhD research

The University of Manchester has six fully-funded PhD studentships on cutting-edge creativeAI projects for 2026 entry. The CreativeAI studentships (2026-29) will explore the rapidly evolving relationship between creativity and Artificial Intelligence (AI), considering what AI does for creativity and what creativity does for AI.

The University of Manchester’s AI@Manchester theme, part of the Digital Futures platform (formerly the Institute for Data Science & Artificial Intelligence) was created to act as an access point to the University’s expertise in data science and artificial intelligence, facilitates interactions between researchers and problem holders, owns the University’s data science strategy, and delivers sustainable support for the community

Figure 21.1: The University of Manchester’s theme, part of the Digital Futures platform (formerly the Institute for Data Science & Artificial Intelligence) was created to act as an access point to the University’s expertise in data science and artificial intelligence, facilitates interactions between researchers and problem holders, owns the University’s data science strategy, and delivers sustainable support for the community

Six supervisor-led interdisciplinary projects bring together outstanding expertise by over 15 academic staff in arts, languages and cultures, computer science, social anthropology and law to address timely societal questions around AI’s impact on agency, authorship, imagination, inequality, and social relationships. Studentships will be organised around three strands:

  1. AI for creativity
  2. Creativity for AI
  3. creativity of AI

All supported by a methodological training theme, creative AI methods. The Centre for Digital Humanities, Cultures and Media (DHCM) will serve as the intellectual and organisational home of the CreativeAI studentships, with members already working at the intersection of AI, creativity, society, and culture.

21.1 Key features of this studentship

  • Receive a fully funded studentship covering tuition fees and an annual stipend at the UKRI rate (previously 2025/26 £20,780 per year) for 3.5 years.
  • Research Training and Support Grant (RTSG): £3,000 total over 3.5 years.
  • CreativeAI studentship methods training and cohort-building activities.